Accomplice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain, #3)(72)

“Bex, I swear it isn’t what it appears!” Roland yelled, thrashing so hard his glasses fell from his face.

Blade’s heart clenched unpleasantly in his chest when Becky knelt to pick them up and put them back atop her older brother’s nose. “You told me I could trust you.” A tear ran down her cheek, and that alone was grounds for him to flay the skin from her brother’s bones. “You came to take my magic from me?”

Roland shook his head. “No, Rebecka, you don’t understand—let me explain. Please.” The guards began to drag him away, leaving the screaming plant behind, Becky just staring at it.

“Wait!” she called. The guards halted, and Roland exhaled, relieved. She continued without looking at her brother. “Make sure the cell is clean.”

“No, Rebecka!” Roland yelled as the Malevolent Guards dragged her brother away.

Blade had his arms around her before her knees could hit the ground.

Her body shook with heaving sobs. “I shouldn’t have trusted him,” she said, gripping Blade’s shoulders like a lifeline.

That feeling in his chest returned, and this time, it didn’t go away.





Chapter 46


Evie


Evie wasn’t certain if she should be flattered or mortified at the speed with which the party guests filtered out of the room.

At the prospect of a night alone with The Wicked Woman.

A night alone with her.

Her boss, on the other hand, hadn’t moved an inch. Just stared at her so expressionlessly that a bystander could’ve mistaken him for a statue. In her peripherals, she could see Tatianna dragging Clare from the room, muttering something about finding Kingsley before Trystan lost what was left of his sanity.

“Sir?” Evie asked, feeling ridiculous, still standing atop the table. He said nothing, just walked toward her, placing his hands on either side of her hips, making her exhale as he slowly lowered her to the floor. He kept his hands there even after her feet touched the ground, but he wasn’t looking at her.

It was unsettling, and not in the enjoyable way.

“Sir? Won’t you say something?”

“I’m thinking,” he rumbled, still not looking at her.

“Oh. That’s good. Thinking is good.” She nodded, and the movement shifted her body enough for her boss to realize his hands were still on her. He released her with a rather offensive repulsed sound as he planted a hand on his hip and another to lean against the table away from her.

“No, it’s not. I’m having difficulty doing it,” he sighed.

She scrunched her nose and mustered every ounce of sympathy she could scrounge up. “Is it because of the horns?”

He turned so fast she stumbled backward. His eyes were wild and unmoored, and Evie realized her error far too late. The man was far past humor—he’d ventured into double-forehead-vein territory. She’d only seen that one other time, and it was on intern orientation day.

She thought it was funny then. It did not seem funny now.

“No, you harbinger of chaos, it’s you!” He ripped both horns from his head and dropped them to the ground. Evie was tempted to tell him that his hair was now sticking up in two very specific spots, but she didn’t think this was a pretty-enough room to die in. “What are you going to do if one of the guests finds Kingsley? What are you going to do when they come to collect on their prize?” The last word came out sarcastically.

She felt insulted.

And Evie never made good choices when she felt insulted.

She poked a finger into his chest and glared. “I’ll have you know a night with me would be a prize. I am an absolute delight in the bedchamber, thank you! I’m attentive and fun, damn it!”

Don’t brag about your sexual prowess to your boss, Evie!

Even if that look on his face is the funniest thing you’ve ever seen in your life!

There was no way he would ever be able to replicate the expression. It was the kind you only made under one specific circumstance and then never again. His eyes were wide, his mouth open, but in a half-curved way that was most definitely not a smile but was too crooked to be a frown.

He ran a hand through his hair, making the rest of it stand on end along with the two sides left sticking up from the horns. He looked a little like he’d just been shocked by some form of electricity. A horrific shock that went by the name of Evie Sage.

“Is this how it’s to be done?” he said to no one in particular. He wasn’t looking at her. “Is this my downfall?” His face was no longer in that funny expression, but it was incredulous. That much, Evie could identify. “Death by sexual frustration?”

“I make you sexually…frustrated?”

“No,” he said resolutely, and she felt her heart drop. Oh, it was just the normal physical reactions all human beings had when speaking of intimate relations. She only wanted to crawl in a deep, dark hole in the ground a very little bit.

Okay, she wanted to be buried in one, but there was only so much embarrassment the human body could manage before it internally combusted. “Oh. Well…if someone finds Kingsley, let’s hope it’s my new friend Dax. I’m sure we’d share a pleasurable evening together.” She was joking, trying to lighten the mood, but ironically she felt like a storm cloud had descended over Trystan’s head. She tried again. “It’s been a while, you know?” She gently punched his arm in camaraderie.